The Thing and the Alien
by Drdresapinkbunny
Summary: This is a story that delves into the origin and psychology of The Thing. It's history with the Yautja (Predators). And the world shattering revelations and violence that revolve around The Thing's first encounter with the Xenomorphs (aliens). This is a work in progress that I will submit on a chapter by chapter basis. Please let me know what you think.
1. Chapter 1 The Bio-Vizier

THE THING AND THE ALIEN

_By Christopher P. Secor_

CHAPTER 1

_THE BIO-VIZIER_

_"The nethermost caverns...are not for the fathoming of eyes that see; for their marvels are strange and terrific; cursed the ground where dead thoughts live new and oddly bodied, and evil the mind that is held by no head. Wisely did Ibn Schacabao say, that happy is the tomb where no wizard hath lain, and happy the town at night whose wizards are all ashes. For it is of old rumour that the soul of the devil-bought hastes not from his charnel clay, but fats and instructs the very worm that gnaws; till out of corruption horrid life springs, and the dull scavengers of earth wax crafty to vex it and swell monstrous to plague it. Great holes secretly are digged where earth's pores ought to suffice, and things have learnt to walk that ought to crawl…"_

- H.P. Lovecraft; "The Festival"

Bak' Khan the Chief Bio-Vizier of Queen Amara looked intently at the blue planet that spun on the large monitor in his laboratory. It was ripe for the Laughing Meat. If left unchecked the whole planet would be one gigantic monster in a matter of days.

Every insect. Every fish in the sea... What a ravenous hunger. Such was the nature of the Kha'bj-te Amedha. And this fascinated Bak'Khan more than anything in all his long years. He yearned to study it. To understand how such a thing could even exist. And most of all, he longed to know it's mind. What could such a thing be thinking?

The Yautja Empire possessed knowledge on a great many things. But virtually nothing was known about the legendary Flesh Plague. All their knowledge of the Laughing Meat revolved around killing it, and the legends of how it had brought the Yautja to the very brink of destruction in ancient times.

The Bio-Vizier could understand how his ignorant brethren's only wished to destroy it. But Bak'Khan being of a higher mental order knew that destruction was not the pinnacle of knowledge. And knowledge was power. And he would have it. Despite the Queen's decree.

He felt her ignorance in this affair was justification for disobedience. Though only the precious few secretly allied to his cause would agree with this. The stakes were high, and if he was not careful he would pay with his life.

The female clans with their uncontested rule of the empire believed themselves untouchable. But the abyss was infinite. And it's mysteries uncounted. And Bak'Khan would see his people truly flourish. He would make his people invincible.

A window on the monitor opened up, blocking out part of his view of the rotating planet. And the Bio-Vizier suddenly found himself looking into the eyes of the Chief General of the Queen's Ivory Legion. Thindweh was on the bridge of the ship making final preparations for their descent. He did not look pleased.

"Bio-Vizier Bak'Kahn." He said. Making no attempt to hide his disdain for the Yautja. "I am surprised to see you still in your facilities. We will be making our descent soon, and I expected that you would want to be on the bridge to see it."

The Bio-Vizier bowed slightly to the monitor. A gesture met only to further vex the General. Thank you elder Thindweh for the honor of inviting me to attend the descent on the bridge. But I must remain in my laboratory. I have certain… Instruments that will allow me to better assess the situation."

Thindweh frowned and abruptly closed the communication window. He did not like the Order of Bio-Viziers. Any male that did not participate in the hunt could not be trusted. Queen Amara's decree was that they would wipe the planet clean of life. And Bak'Kahn was to supervise and confirm that all biological life was indeed exterminated.

Genocide of an entire planet was an action that any Yautja would be loathe to perform. But a necessary step none the less. The Laughing Meat had carved a gory path of destruction since its re-discovery on the Ice Moon Gorth. The dominant species on the moon were a reclusive race of cyclopean white furred giants. They had a propensity for mining. And had lived for millennium within the frozen moons of the Great Ice Belt of the Brown Dwarf Teide. Delving deeply into the frozen moon. Raising great towering spire cities of ice and stone, and digging gigantic labyrinths deep beneath the surface.

But the Hesiod of Gorth, which was the name the Yautja had given them, had delved too deeply it seemed into their icy home. For they had uncovered the legendary plague that was the Laughing Meat. The Scourge that had not been seen in over ten thousand years, and had been long thought extinct.

What ensued next was of course never in doubt. Fire. Paranoia. Death. Father's burning their sons. Brother killing brother. And then armed with the knowledge of the Hesiod living on the other icy moons. The Laughing Meat then began to spread across the Ice Belt. Consuming and replicating the entire Hesiod population on four other moons before the species as a whole realized what was happening.

Mercifully the white furred giants had little to no knowledge of the Galaxy beyond their little ice cluster. Having kept their interstellar travels to the frozen moons they ruled. This met that if the legends of the Flesh Plague were true, the Hesiod it consumed could provide it with no new knowledge of life outside the Ice Belt of Teide.

In desperation the Hesiod elected to destroy their brethren's fallen moons. Killing the infected and anyone else still alive. It was a desperate quarantine effort. The wanton destruction was noticed by a passing Yautja hunting tribe. The Dassanech were not familiar with the signs of the Flesh Plague. But the onboard sensor's of the tribe's Man'daca were. Upon the detection of the Class Four creature all thoughts of hunting were uncharacteristically put aside, as a more militant stance was taken.

The tribe relayed what they had detected across the frozen airless gulfs, all the way back to the heart of the empire. The data took several weeks to make the journey. During which time the tribe ran interference as the moons fell. Any ship leaving the orbit of the moons was destroyed by the superior Yautja craft.

Some of the Hesiod had elected to abandon their moons in favor of braving the abyss with their primitive craft. This might have been a new era for the species. Inspired through necessity to become the first interstellar pioneers of their race. But the Dassanech could not allow the chance of the Laughing Meat escaping into the outer abyss.

Queen Amara's decree had been swift and absolute. Within a month's time Amara's decree had come back in the shape of the Ivory Legion. The right hand of the Yautja military. Commanded by Chief General Thindweh. Inferior males though they were. For several millennium the female clans had allowed the soldiers access to weaponry that would otherwise be forbidden to all other Yautja males.

Their monolithic ivory ships did not arrive a moment too soon. For over the course of the month the pandemonium on the moons had reached a fever pitch. The dying species being whipped up into a frenzy at the horror of their encroaching doom. Massive fires could actually be seen from orbit, burning across the icy wastes of some of the moons. There had even been battles in orbit above the frozen moons between the Hesiod and the Laughing Meat. The Yautja had watched these battles with great interest. It was almost comical watching the primitive craft with their hastily retrofitted weaponry try to out maneuver one another at a snail's pace.

Quickly though the Laughing Meat gained a firm foothold in these battles. For the Flesh Plague possessed scientific knowledge from other species as well. And it began to alter the commandeered ships in ways that the original creator's of the craft could not adapt to.

The Hesiod were being steadily pushed back further and further to their capital. A planet sized moon named Borea. Every day there were battles in orbit and new infections popping up in the Ice Cidatels across the cyclopean giant's empire. The wreckage of primitive ships littered the local spaceways. The blown out hulls of the craft began getting pulled into erratic gravitational pulls between the moons. Until there were entire debris fields slingshotting between the moons at deadly velocity.

In the growing frenzy more and more Hesiod elected to flee their homes in their primitive ships. They were like a mindless swarm of blood flies. And the Hunting Tribe was quickly losing ground in their efforts to destroy all the fleeing giants.

Never had any Yautja amongst the Dassanech Tribe beheld such senseless horror. Such wanton destruction. As the Laughing Meat spread so did its mental influence. Soon Black Thoughts were emanating outward from the Ice Moons. The Laughing Meat had detected the tribe. Though they had remained invisible all the while. The plague's strength was growing.

On the twenty second day of the Dassanech's containment effort, a single word erupted from the ethereal and into the minds of every single member of the tribe. "Yautja…" The Laughing Meat's strength had grown to the point where it was now reaching into the fourth dimension.

It began to assail the minds of the Yautja in their cloaked ship. And on the twenty ninth day there was a great battle that raged all the way from the fourth deck to outside the command deck before it was stopped. The younger, weaker hunters, mostly Un-Blooded had been driven insane and attacked their brethren. The legends of the Flesh Plague were proving themselves to be true.

The Laughing Meat's influence did not spare the Hesiod either. Madness compounded madness on the frozen moons. Turning nearly all the remaining cities of the Hesiod into hellish warzones. The bulk of the remaining population was pushed back to their giant capital moon Borea. Where the Yautja had already detected traces of infection.

The Hesiod began planning a mass exodus of Borea. And the Laughing Meat continued its mental assault on the remaining Yautja. Plaguing both their sleeping and waking hours with nightmarish, blasphemous visions. So relentless was the Laughing Meat's mental assault that even the veteran hunters began to buckle under the effects.

On the thirty second day of the Flesh Plague the dying giants of Borea commenced a mass exodus of the moon. Tens of thousands of ships erupted from the frozen cloudy atmosphere. Electing to die as pioneers rather than die horrifically in their mighty citadels. The Hesiod took every space faring ship on the planet sized moon.

The already exhausted tribe fought with honor, but were unable to stop the titanic swarm of cyclopean pioneers, with their rickety primitive ships. The Man'daca's sensors warned that the Flesh Plague was already on several of the Hesiod's craft. The blasphemous monster even then hiding amongst the cyclopean giants.

The Dassanech destroyed dozens of the Hesiod ships. But the giants were like a swarm of starving bloodflies. And the tribe in their Man'Daca were like a surgical blade. Then just as all hope of containment was lost, the Ivory Legion appeared out of warpspace. Already aware of the situation, the mighty warships dispatched the thousands of fleeing Hesiod ships in a matter of moments.

Then the Ivory Legion set about destroying the moons of Teide. It was only when all the ice moons had been completely vaporized that the Yautja discovered their grave error. A drop ship was missing from the Dassanech's ship. Record logs showed that it had ejected during the pandemonium of the great battle aboard the Man'Daca on the twenty ninth day of their quarantine effort.

"The Hesiod are now extinct." General Thindweh thought to himself with disgust. He turned his attention back to the blue planet rotating on the main view screen of the command deck. He waved a hand in the air and the view began to zoom up on the planet's surface.

"It should have ended there." The thought kept repeating in Thindweh's mind. "The extinction of one race should have been enough." And now there was the very good possibility that it had tasted Yautja Flesh and now knew them as well as it had in ancient times.

The view screen continued to zoom up on the planet. Rapidly moving passed the cloud line, a Mountainous land of snowy peaks came into view. The ships scanners had the scent of something. But it didn't know what just yet...


	2. Chapter 2 The Grub

Chapter 2

"The Grub"

_"On 6-6-66 I was little I didn't know shit and on _

_7-7-77 eleven years __later still don't know any better _

_by 8-8-88 it's way too late for me to __change and by _

_9-9-99 I hope I'm sittin' on the back porch drinkin' red __wine singin' Ohhhhhh…"_

- Morphine; Like Swimming; "French Fries With Pepper"

They were the ultimate servants of light and life. The lesser children of the light feared them. But they did not, could not, understand what was at stake. Their first memories had been purely primal. Consisting of only the most basic and animalistic elements.

Like the blazing sun. It's brilliant burning blue light shining down in shafts through the cracks in the canopy high above. And the strange scent of the massive black flowers that reign supreme to this very day, in great swathes across the sweltering jungle. There incredible mysterious scent almost somehow speaking to them, though they did not yet have any knowledge of words.

They remembered the primal shrieks that issued forth from the murky gloom of the mile high canopy. They remembered shadowy winged shapes that darted in blurs across the endless night beneath the trees. They remembered fear. And pain. And… Hunger.

They did not remember their first form. Nor their second or third, or the countless other forms they had taken in the countless years they had tread that path in the endless jungle.

They weren't sure, but they believed their very first memory was of being an insect. Though of course back then they did not know what an insect was. What they did remember was a timeless mindless void of endless green in the form of sight, smell, and taste.

How long this had gone on they had no idea. For they had no thought of time in those days. Giving their best guess, they estimated that they had lived in this world of green for at least a century. Had nothing ever tried to eat them they would have never become the legendary scourge of the galaxy. Feared by all intelligent races. The monster that is spoken of in hushed voices around campfires at night. Had they been let alone in peace they would still be munching mindlessly on leaves to this very day.

But that was not to be their fate. One day the endless green was suddenly broken by a rippling reflective darkness below. Then something massive and terrifying erupted from the strange blackness. There was a deafening splash, and all went black.

For a long time there was only darkness and the unending massive echo of a rhythmic pounding. There had been a claustrophobic sensation of being pressed tightly in on all sides by taught slimy muscle. And there was the exquisite salty, metallic taste that they would later come to know as blood. Suddenly they had felt a hunger they had never known before. They began to eat.

For a long time there was only darkness, the tight press of flesh, and the taste of blood. Eating. Eating in the dark… This had gone on for a time beyond measure,. Then one day they felt a sensation wholly unfamiliar to them. Weightlessness. Swimming through the deep. They had become the fish. Eaten from the inside out. Though of course they did not have the intelligence at the time to acknowledge this revelation in such a way.

But they would always remember those primal days in the depths. Not in detail, but in snippets of dark images with the only light coming in dim shafts from above. There had been voices down there in the dark… At least they thought they remembered hearing voices.

Much later when they had become self aware and ruled the planet, they had gone back down into the dark depths to find the source of the voices they had heard so long ago, but had found nothing. Save for a strange monolithic limestone green shrine in one of the deepest trenches. The shrine was of a strange stone creature crouched atop a mile high limestone pillar. A massive stone beast with a humanoid body, dragon wings, and the head of an octopus. To behold such a beast had caused them to shudder in fear. An emotion they were as a rule quite unaccustomed to.

There had been a sentient race on the planet. But they lived far from the sweltering jungles. Their main cities being near the South and North poles. A stark contrast to the sweltering heat of their native environment. The cold was an extreme they despised.

But once they had tasted sentient flesh oh… There horizon's had broadened. The world around them begun to illuminate in a light they had never thought possible. Like a man waking from a deep sleep only to find himself in a world that resembled his dream. Had always resembled it. But he'd never been able to see it before.

They had also discovered the true meaning of horror. For the sentient race had possessed some knowledge of the abyss. Outer space was a void. Empty frozen, and lifeless. The only breaks in the great nothing were the countless tiny points of light, and the even smaller spinning worlds that spun around them. Their world that they had once thought endless was now revealed to be humblingly insignificant.

And one day even all those stars would go out. And their would be endless darkness absolute. And what would happen then? The beings that shuffled about the remote light less voids would reign supreme. Oh yes, they were sure of it. They lived in the remotest voids, where the light of the stars dare not shine. Neither living nor dead. Terrible was there purpose. Terrible were there minds. And some day when all the stars ran out of fuel, they would stride about the endless, frozen, pitch blackness of time and space...

"Ah…" Now here was something that in it's own half conscious way could understand their plight if it only knew their true purpose. This albino ape. This "human". His very blood sang mournfully of the soul crushing emptiness of the endless abyss. Even as they consumed him his last fading thoughts turned to what may lay beyond this life.

Caught up in the moment of another being understanding their plight they uncharacteristically decided to commune with this dying, lesser being. "Nothing" they sang sweetly to the cells as they consumed them. And the sound reverberated through what was left of the man. All the way up to the sacred brain. They didn't yet know his mind. They hadn't started to eat it. But the blood carries many memories. And already it knew the man.

"Nothing awaits you little human. Only darkness absolute. You are finished. But your thoughts and knowledge shall live on forever in us. Your death shall grant you immortality. Now look toward the approaching void, and soon all your fears and doubts will be gone forever."

The human let out a half choked sob. There were millions of them sliding down his throat, and the choked reflexive intake of breath made the body spasm. The convulsion signified the end and they were pleased. All was well with this shell…

"_Thanks for reading. Please feel free to comment and critique. And stay tuned for Chapter 3!"_


	3. Chapter 3 The Scout

Chapter 3

"THE SCOUT"

"_**Gorman**__: Hicks, meet me at the south lock. We're coming in.  
__**Hicks:**__ Roger.  
__**Hudson**__: [__to Vasquez__] He's comin' in. I feel safer already_."

- James Cameron; "Aliens"

The Xenomorph Scout watched in silence from the darkness of the ceiling fifty feet above as the abomination consumed the human. The undulating flesh shuddered and writhed. The Xeno saw none of the gore in the black vacuum of it's mind. Only the fading of the blue electrical light of the man. And all around him the unnatural electrical crimson jolts of the monstrosity that was consuming him. The man made one last noise that was a cross between a gasp and a whimper. Then he was still. Soon there would be a man and an abomination. But the man would no longer be a man. It would be an abomination as well. It did not know how it knew this. It did not matter.

It's first thought was one of rage. That such a thing could exist. And it's first instinct was to drop the fifty feet from the ceiling and pounce on the monstrosity with bone crushing weight. To attack with tooth, and claw, and acid. To tear this undulating fleshy thing to shreds. But something held it back. This abomination was neither fit for breeding nor consumption. And it was dangerously close to the hive.

It stayed there in the shadows a while and weighed its options. It knew that soon the abomination would finish its work. And given enough time the monstrosity would spot the Scout, despite the darkness and distance. The Xeno knew that this thing had more than just eyes with which to see. And it knew the monstrosity could use the weapons of man if it wished. Again it did not know how it knew this, but it did not matter.

Another moment passed. The Scout noticed another man. He was on the ground not far away. Cowering behind a large wooden crate. He was a big man, and cradled in his shaky hands a weapon that spit little balls of fire. But judging from his aura the Scout thought the man unlikely to attack.

The man's color suggested that he was ripe for the hive. And under different circumstances the Scout would have claimed him. But all thoughts of food or reproduction were uncharacteristically put on hold, in the face of this new threat.

All was silent save for the drip of cold rusty water and the wet, sucking sounds of the undulating flesh below. Something unnatural was happening between the dead man and the thing. The Scout could sense it. And the Xeno came as close as possible to being unnerved.

It suddenly sprang into action. Darting silently across the ceiling faster than any man could run. A moment later it was rocketing through the air ducts it had used to access the facility. Then it was outside. Moving quickly across the huge roof of the complex.

The Xeno darted in a blur through the deep shadows. The two moons glowed brightly in the cloudless sky, but did little to illuminate the rooftop. Mostly because of the foliage that pressed tightly around all sides of the towering building. The surrounding trees were monolithic. Looming high over the massive hulking complex that was comprised wholly of the same non-reflective slate gray metal provided by the Yutani Corporation, that was the staple material on every single colony world. Even if any men had been patrolling the area, they would have been hard pressed to catch a glimpse of the Xeno as it darted silently toward the roof edge.

A few seconds later the Scout reached the edge of the rooftop and launched itself out into the darkness one hundred feet above the ground. The moonlight reflected off it's outstretched body outlining it's divine, ebony exo-skeleton in a ghostly light that made it look like an angel of death.

Any of its brethren would have hesitated at the roof edge, but the Scout had been to this building many times. It had long ago concluded that leaping out into the canopy of giant trees was a much faster way to exit the premise.

The Xeno came as close to the feeling of exhilaration as it possibly could as it sailed through the cold night air. Then it was passing with a "swoosh" through the first gigantic leaves of the jungle canopy that towered over the complex. One of which stood about twenty feet out from the complex roof edge. A half second later its claws found the bark of the massive tree it had been aiming for.

It lost only a minute amount of momentum as it changed direction and scrambled down the trunk. Then it was streaking across the jungle floor. The nighted wood was ripe with the sounds of life. Dominated by the chirp of giant crickets, and the chatter of the large blue tinged cyclopean primates that made their homes in the upper canopy of the forest.

The Xeno elected to take the most direct route to the hive. This was also the most perilous, but urgency dictated haste. The Scout knew that it would have to pass through a territory heavily populated by the large cyclopean primates. And as of late the savage beasts had started becoming aggressive. Several times they had attacked the Scout's brethren.

Though the primates were savage and strong, they feared the Xenos and did not ever come near the hive. But they had begun to strike at the Xenos when they traveled abroad. Their attacks had begun occurring with increasing frequency and violence. Physically powerful, they were a match for the Xenos in both strength and ferocity. Most were larger than the hive Warriors, whom were larger and stronger than the Scout. Since the Queen had not yet commanded their destruction, as a rule the denizens of the hive simply stayed out of the ape's little plot of forest.

Coming from the South this route was drier than any other one. The valley that lay before the hive was bordered in many places by marshlands. The marshlands offered up a host of perils to any would be traveler. Quicksand. Black pools and twisting rivers that teemed with voracious reptilian wildlife. And poisonous plants. Some of which moved with a life that suggested that the plantlike appearance was more of a guise, and that they were in fact closer in relation to the animal kingdom.

Just then there was a stealthy movement in the trees, and the Scout whom had been moving at lightening speed came to a grinding halt. Kicking up chunks of dirt and rock just as a large ape dropped down from out of the darkness above. The primate towered over the little scout, breathing heavily. It's massive muscled chest heaving, and a large primitive club clutched tightly in a large fist.

The look in it's one large eye suggested hatred, fear, and imminent bloodshed. The Scout of course saw none of this. But the electrical aura of the ape more or less conveyed the same notion to the Xeno. The Scout did not have to look up to know that there were more of them gathering in the trees above.

They began dropping from the darkness of the canopy, and within seconds the Xeno was surrounded. Most were carrying primitive weapons. Clubs of wood and knives of stone. The largest one. The ape who had first dropped in front of the scout was clearly their leader. The electrical auras of the Troop were easy to read and told the Scout much. None of this was relevant to the Xeno however. All that mattered was that they were food. And they were in the Scout's way.

The Xeno hissed. It's lips pulling back. Revealing it's deadly sharp teeth. The Troop leader answered back by lunging at the Scout with a deafening roar that would have shaken most other creatures to the core. But the Scout was deaf to the war cry. All was silence and the electricity of movement.

The massive ape swung it's club, but the Xeno dodged the lumbering strike, and darted around the beast's side. Before the ape could recover the Scout was already on it's back. The ape howled and spun around violently. But the Scout held on tightly. Digging it's razor sharp claws into the primate's hide. In one blinding fluid motion it grabbed the ape's head in it's clawed hands and wrenched it backward.

The ape only had time to gurgle once before the Xeno sent it's second mouth through the top of it's skull. The Scout's mouth easily punched through the skull, shattering bone and blasting through the primitive brain. Tissue tore, and synapses shredded as the Scout's mouth punched through the roof of the ape's mouth. The jaw shattered. Teeth and chunks of bone fell softly onto the dark jungle floor. There was blood in the night air now.

The Scout saw the electricity of the ape's brain flair brilliantly for a half second, then go out. The Scout let go and let the dead Troop leader fall heavily to the ground. The other ape's shrieked at the sight of their dead brethren, and all at once they attacked. In the space of a heartbeat a half dozen clubs were descending on the Scout. Thrown off balance the Xeno backpedaled with it's arms raised.

The Xeno took a blow to the side, and with a deafening crack went to the ground on all fours. The Scout darted away, keeping low to the ground. It was faster than the ape's, but they were larger and in a terrible rage. And they were all nighted jungle was alive with the raging electric auras of the primitive beings.

The Primate's had become increasingly weary of the Xenos. Their rule had always gone unchallenged in this land, and they feared these jet black eyeless creatures that had come. They had been weary but their leader's son had inspired them into this conflict. And upon seeing his brutal death at the Scout's hands, the Cyclopean Ape's were now in a primal rage that only death could quell. They would see the blood of this black, eyeless monster, if indeed such a thing had blood.

An ape not much smaller than the dead Troop Leader grabbed the Xeno from behind and lifted it up off it's feet. The Scout thrashed about violently but the ape held fast. Trapping the Xeno in a bear hug that would have crushed the life out of a buffalo. Another ape came howling at the struggling alien, it's club raised high over it's head.

The Scout flexed it's upper body chest cavity, and spit a glob of acid into the rapidly approaching ape's face. It shrieked and fell backward. Clutching it's smoking face, even as it's flesh began to run in rivulets between it's big fingers.

An ape shrieked and hurled a large stone at the Scout. But the shot missed it's mark and instead hit the ape that was holding the Scout square in the face. The Xeno was released as it's captor crumpled to the ground.

Others. Many others were coming now. Charging with their weapons raised. A few large stones slammed into the ground around the crouched Scout. The primate's not having the best aim. The Scout resumed it's efforts at flight. Scrabbling over the writhing body of the Primate who's smoking face was melting off, the Xeno made use of it's superior speed and agility to outmaneuver it's attackers.

The Scout managed to put a few feet between itself and the Troop and leapt high into the air. Landing about eight feet up on the trunk of the tree, it began to dart upward. It's ascent however was cut short after about six more feet when a howling ape swooped in from a nearby branch and smashed the Scout across the face with a club.

Another deafening crack, and for a moment the Xeno's shadowy perception of the world exploded in a blinding electric light. The Xeno was falling, and a second later it landed on the wet dirt of the jungle floor. It's deceptively heavy body shaking the ground a little.

A half second later there was another heavy impact that shook the ground even more. And then a savage roar came from vocal chords and lungs whose fury was so great that the Xeno heard it through the black vacuum of it's mind. It looked up and saw a huge blue tinged Cyclopean Ape. It towered over any of the apes that the Scout had seen before. It's aura was like a monsoon of raging electricity. The King had come…

"_Thanks for reading. Please feel free to comment and critique. And stay tuned for Chapter 4!"_


	4. Chapter 4 The Usurper

CHAPTER 4

"The Usurper"

"_I was working in the lab, late one night.  
When my eyes beheld an eerie sight.  
For my monster from his slab began to rise…"  
_- Pickett, Bobby / Capizzi, Leonard; "The Monster Mash"

Bak'Khan was the greatest mind the Yautja species had ever produced. Bak'Khan, possessed an intellect that not even his "leaders" could begin to comprehend. It was Bak'Khan who would be remembered as the one who led his people into the future with open eyes. Some day **he** would be King. And the Female Clans would bow to him.

These were the thoughts of the Chief Bio-Vizier of the Mighty Queen Amara as he strode through his dimly lit laboratory. At the Queen's command he'd been given an entire level of the Ivory Legion's flag ship to set up his lab and ensure the utter destruction of the Laughing Meat. A task he had no intention of completing.

The laboratory was immense and draped in shadow. The few lights that burned in the mile long room weakened and succumbed to darkness about fifty feet up the walls, and gave the impression of an endless yawning abyss. The Bio-Vizier had been hard at work. The cathedral like room was alive with the sounds of great bubblings, and beepings, and whirrings, and tickings.

The Great Bak'Khan stopped for a moment and gazed at a large glass cylinder. It was ten feet in circumference and just as tall. The container was filled with a bright phosphorescent blue liquid. Several tubes and wires ran off the container and connected to rows of monitoring and control devices that encircled it at a distance of about eight feet. This same mechanical set up was duplicated several times in the background. Twenty of the massive cylinders in all. He contemplated the contents of the container for a moment.

Yes this would do. It would have to. The Ivory Legion soldiers, especially Chief General Thindweh had helped to build his hastily assembled lab with much grumbling. But it was the Queen's wish that her Chief Bio-Vizier be given anything he needed for his task. Much of the laboratory was dedicated to monitoring, and searching for the Laughing Meat, but a few things like the glass containment cells with their blue liquid were set up for specimen study. Fortunately his brethren were too ignorant of science to be aware of what they were constructing. But Thindweh had had his suspicions.

"What do you need these great glass cylinders for Chief Bio-Vizier?" He had asked Bak'Khan when the construction of his lab had been in full swing. "And what is that odd liquid?"

"Simply taking every precaution Chief General." He had said in his most diplomatic tone.

"That is not an answer Bak'Khan."

"Say for example Chief General… That we find a species worth saving before we destroy it's world. This would be an adequate method of containing the creatures until we could reintroduce them to another friendly environment."

At this the Chief General had only grunted. He was loathe to commit genocide. An act he had performed too many times as of late. But he was equally loathe to agree with the Bio-Vizier.

Bak'Khan turned away from the glowing blue liquid and continued his journey through the shadows. Despite the considerable accommodations he'd been given he still longed to have his real laboratory here at his disposal. His laboratory that his title of Chief Bio-Vizier had earned him was a masterpiece of science.

The Lab was a hollowed out asteroid that orbited their Homeworld at the heart of the Empire. Very few ventured into those catacombs that rolled through the frozen airless abyss. And those that did were sympathetic to his cause. When they looked to the future they saw their people in the hands of a more capable ruler. And they stood ever at the ready for the signal to be given…

There were many secrets in the depths of his laboratory. Dangerous secrets that if discovered would result in his painful execution. Possibly his entire family line (the males anyway) would be wiped out for his crimes.

The asteroid laboratory housed a collection of forbidden specimens. A scientist's dream. Indeed even the Mala'kak would be envious. There he had a rare and prized infectious Vampiric Flower, who's spores could be inhaled and would take root in the skull of a host body. The spores would grow rapidly. Seeds would sprout within the skull. And wicked roots would begin to spread throughout the body, draining it of it's nutrients.

In a matter of days the sprouts would become stalks and push the eyeballs out of the victim's head. Then the head would split open and a great blood red flower would rise out of the dead being. And it's life cycle would begin anew. It was a process that was agonizing for the victim. Bak'Khan knew this first hand, because in the name of science he had fed the plant several times.

In one room he had a being of living metal that seemingly could not die. It came from an ancient and forgotten, highly advanced race. It's skeleton like carapace was a thing of beauty and unceasing wonderment. The thing was dangerous. Very dangerous. It could manipulate any form of technology. Save for that of Bak'Khan's. He had through his superior science constructed a prison for the metal creature. There was no other who could build a room to hold such a monster.

Bak'Khan had lost several of his disciples in the process of catching the metal beast. It could sustain an incredible amount of damage without slowing down. And the weapons it had employed in combat were of a devastating nature. Effortlessly flaying armor and flesh. Literally severing it's target on a molecular level. Separating atom from atom with the sickly green lightening that emitted from it's weapon.

Bak'Khan could still remember vividly the details of that death filled day. They had ambushed the monster within a deep canyon. It had been dusk. The shadows had begun to lengthen across the red stony landscape.

The rock walls were sheer and jagged to the extreme. A climb even the most skilled Yautja would be hard pressed to make. A dozen of his disciples had been waiting in strategic positions about the canyon floor. Their cloaking devices being of an advanced nature of his own design.

Bak'Khan had been watching with intense interest from above. Perched atop a cliff edge alongside several of his finest warriors. The cloaking devices had worked, and the trap was sprung. **Nothing,** Could have prepared them for the savagery that ensued.

A net gun was fired. The shot found it's mark and the razor wire wrapped itself around the Living Metal. The net however failed to knock the monster off it's feet. In the blink of an eye the razor wire net was in tatters and the scene erupted into hellish pandemonium.

The creature drew a long skinny firearm that had only a moment ago appeared to be merely part of it's skeletal carapace. The Machine Monster seemed to have adjusted it's sight and could see it's assailants. In an instant the air was filled with deadly weapons fire. The sickly green lightening of it's weapon offsetting the brilliant blue and gold of the Yautja's returning fire.

The creature revealed itself to be as deadly accurate as it was agile. Sprinting and rolling this way and that at an unnatural speed. Leaping high into the air while firing. It's agile maneuvers seemingly not effecting it's accuracy in the least.

After several deaths and a what appeared to be a crippling blow to the living metal beast, it had almost teleported away. A technology that the Bio-Vizier still did not understand. No known race, not even the Mala'Kak possessed such a science. Teleportation was scientifically impossible. Or so it seemed.

Even though Bak'Khan did not understand how it worked, he had set up an experimental contingency plan for the monster's attempt at escape. He and his disciples had engineered a web of energy around the area where they had attacked the beast. It was a successful experiment, and the living metal's teleportation effort had failed.

That's when things had gone completely insane. The Living Metal realized that it could not teleport away, and seemingly knew that the attacking Yautja had been the cause. It seemed to instantly recover from it's wounds Bak'Khan had deemed crippling, and came sprinting at the entrenched Yautja howling wildly. The savage cry sounding like an impossible cross between a wolf, and a jagged piece of glass being dragged across a chalk board.

Heedless of it's many wounds that still smoldered it launched itself at blinding speed into a group of the Chief Bio-Vizier's disciples. Slashing with steel claws that sliced through the Yautja's armor like paper. It did not slow down as it plowed through the warriors, but continued on it's mad dash down the canyon.

It had taken Bak'Khan a moment to realize that the Machine Monster was running with one of his disciples in tow. A clawed hand embedded in the limp warriors chest. The weight of the Yautja who was only slightly smaller than the Metal Monster, seemed to offer no hindrance to the monster's movement. The creature rounded a corner and was lost from sight.

There was a few desperate moments when the possibility of failure seemed more like a certainty. The moments stretched into hours. The land had grown dark and the air brisk with the onset of night. Bak'Khan and his disciples hunt had been relentless and desperate, but fruitless.

The tribe was all but ready to give up the search when the monster erupted out of the shadows. It had skinned the Yautja it had abducted. And had draped the tattered flesh over it's metal body, like some kind of grotesque hooded cape.

Bak'Khan's ambitions to ascend to the throne of the Yautja Empire had almost died that night. It had been a ferocious battle. By the time the dust had settled eight of his disciples were dead and another three badly wounded. The monster of Living Metal was amazing in every way. Some day Bak'Khan would unlock all it's secrets. He had already discovered a few…

And then there was his most prized possession. In a stasis pod in the deepest part of his laboratory was a corpse of one of the fabled Magenta Host. It's hulking naked form still perfectly preserved after all these millennia. He doubted that it would ever decay, even if it was not kept in stasis. It was priceless. It was Holy. A parasite of a dead God. Possession of such a thing was an unspeakable crime. At least for those too short sighted to see the divine nature of such a creature. Even in death, it frightened the Bio-Vizier.

Sometimes in his dreams he would find himself standing before the glass of the stasis pod that housed the parasite. And sometimes the monster would stir and open it's eyes, and look at him. It's eyes so wide. So so wide. And it would smile insanely at him. And it would be revealed to him that not all of the Magenta Host were gone. It was this dream that frightened Bak'Khan the most.

He drew himself out of these brooding thoughts as he strode up to a viewing monitor. He waved a hand in front of it and the screen blinked into life. There was a ship on the screen. Hovering in the gulf between the Ivory Legion fleet and the blue planet. An extremely retrofitted Man'Daka. With it's unique exterior weaponry and redesigned hull it was barely recognized as such. Some of his disciples were on board. The Royal Fleet was of course unaware of the vessel. It being outfitted with a cloaking device of Bak'Khan's own design.

A window quickly popped up and expanded in front of the ship. It was Afua who answered the summons. He gave the usual formalities. A process that was redundant but complementing to the Bio-Vizier's ego non-the less.

Afua had a distinct blackish pallor to him. He was also a few feet taller than the average Yautja. He was stronger as well. A result of the experimentation in genetic manipulation he'd done on himself. It was not just Afua, but the whole crew on board the cloaked ship.

The "Tribe" of scientists had all adopted the genetic standard, and were now physically superior to any normal male Yautja. All were hunters. But they were scientists above all else. They hailed from many different tribes. Their common bond was that like Bak'Khan they shunned the ignorance of their brethren, and dreamt of an age where the scientific mind would take the reigns of the Empire.

They were fanatic. As was a commonality amongst the Yautja people in whatever focus that they chose. But animals with ambition were just that. Animals with a programmed instinctive drive. Eat. Mate. Hunt. Build. Bak'Khan's purpose was of a higher order.

What he sought. What **he** and his disciples sought, was of a nature far beyond mere primal needs. They sought enlightenment. Truth, no matter what the cost. This was the nature of any true scientist. To set aside one's primitive traditional beliefs and to accept the true facts of existence was one of the greatest gifts one could give unto themselves. It was not an easy path. But it was the greatest one that mere mortals could tread.

The Great Chief General Thindweh and the other Yautja looked down upon him because they thought that he was not a hunter. When in fact he was hunting a beast that they were mortally afraid of. He was hunting it, and he would capture it. And through his intellect and will, he would become it's master.

"We have positive confirmation my lord." Afua said. His voice clicking oddly. Another side effect of the genetic experimentation. "The Kha'bj-te Amedha infection is still at a minor level one as far as we can tell."

That was good. Once the Laughing Meat entered the ocean the infection would spread like wildfire. The next phase of infection after that would be when the Flesh Pague went airborne. Infecting the very germs in the air.

The last world the Ivory Legion had chased it to had been in this latter stage of infection. And had more or less become a seething planet sized monster. At that point Bak'Khan would not dare to send any of his disciples to the surface to collect any samples. In the short time span before the Ivory Legion had destroyed the planet entirely he'd dared to send a small ship skimming over the edge of the atmosphere in an attempt to collect a sample of oxygen with the virus in it.

The mission had been unsuccessful. Even though the whole of the planet had been absorbed, the Kha'bj-te Amedha seemed to shy away from the highest reaches of the world. Bak'Khan found this to be an extremely frustrating wonder.

There was still a thin layer of untouched atmosphere hovering just before the edge of space. A clean layer. No doubt swarming with whatever native airborne molecular life had taken refuge in this thin veil around the planet. The Laughing Meat knew there was still untouched life up there. Why did it leave these refuge germs and microbes untouched?

"There is a potential complication my Lord." Afua said. His voice Bringing Bak'Khan out of his contemplations.

"Yes?"

"We think we've detected the remains of a Mala'Kak military bomber on the sea floor. The ship is not far from the shore and is in relative close proximity to the Pyode Amedha settlement we've been monitoring."

Bak'Khan gave a start, and then cursed loudly. The Mala'Kak?! Curse them and their corpses! The once mighty race of Engineers laid low by their own egos! The fools who'd presumed to use the blood of a dead God as a weapon! And now their filthy corpses littered the galaxy! To whatever far flung uncharted place in the airless abyss they had sought in vain to hide from divine wrath from the grave.

"Are the Khande Amedha present?" He asked, while exercising considerable restraint not to shout.

"We are searching now my Lord."

"Assume that there is a hive present. Prepare a search team. Take whatever measures you deem necessary. Keep scanning for the hive, and let me know when you've found it. I will try to pinpoint the Laughing Meat from my laboratory."

"Yes my Lord."

"Afua, assuming there is a hive, why do you think we did not spot it sooner?" It was a genuine question from the Chief Bio-Vizier. Bak'Khan was not one to be condescending to his disciples, whom he almost considered peers. And he valued Afua's council.

"There is a thick jungle that dominates most of the land here. The foliage is… Massive."

Afua made no attempt to hide his awe. His main interest in his scientific endeavors was Botany. It was he who through the tireless study of ancient and forbidden tomes, had deduced the existence of the Monstrous Flower that was now housed in Bak'Khan's asteroid laboratory.

Through his study of the forbidden Book of Eibon he had deduced the location of the flower. And it was he who had fearlessly put together and executed the plan of capturing that monstrous plant. When the Blood Flower was in full bloom it was capable of moving in an as of yet, still inexplicable hypnotic way. The beholder would usually lose all sense of self and be drawn into it's swaying vines.

The roots would slither up and punch through the eyes, ears, and mouth of the hapless victim. Greedily stretching throughout the body. Twisting around bones, and sucking the blood and nutrients from the body. The flower growing exponentially in size with each new victim it claimed.

One night in the bowels of his laboratory Bak'Khan had found Afua staring in silence at the Blood Flower in full bloom. Having recently consumed four Vy'drach that had been deposited into the holding tank. It's hypnotic motions were in full swing. Had there not been a foot of well nigh impenetrable glass between Afua and the monstrous plant, Bak'Khan was sure he would have walked mindlessly straight into the Blood Flower's deadly embrace.

Bak'Khan had been hard pressed to tear his fellow Bio-Vizier's gaze from the monstrous plant. And when he had finally succeeded Afua had turned and fixed him with a stare that had given the Chief Bio-Vizier pause. Then Afua had spoken to Bak'Khan in a confidential tone. Which had of course struck Bak'Khan as very odd since they had been the only two Yautja in the whole of the laboratory at the time.

"There are tales my lord… Of times when the Blood Flower reined supreme on worlds. Hundreds, even thousands of victims would come to the Flower. Drawn by it's unholy dance. And they would cast themselves into it's waiting embrace. And the Flower would rise high and swell monstrous. And the valleys where it would take root would be filled with the dead and become a veritable sea of blood."

Bak'Khan had never read the Book of Eibon himself. In truth because he harbored a superstitious fear of the forbidden book. The half whispered stories of what became of the mysterious author. And the tales of what became of those who dared to read it. Falling victim to consuming madness, and worse.

While Bak'Khan told himself on several different occasions that this was all of course primitive superstitious nonsense. He had possessed the only known copy of the ominous book for over five hundred years and never dared to do more than flip through a few pages. The passing glances of the images and symbols he saw were enough to make him shudder and put it out of sight indefinitely.

But it was Afua who had convinced the Chief Bio-Vizier to bring the tome out and let him read it. As far as Bak'Khan knew Bio-Vizier Afua became the first person in over two millennia to dare to read the pages of the dread Book of Eibon.

Out of scientific courtesy, Bak'Khan had not asked his loyal disciple if the book had had any ill effect on him. It seemed like a ridiculous question both for the fact that they were scientists. And the Book, was just that. A Book.

But ever since, Bak'Khan had noticed a near imperceptible and yet undeniable change in his comrade. The way Afua would occasionally cock his head as if listening for the feint approach of something. And sometimes he would stare out of the view ports at the endless night in a curious way…

"I shall prepare a search and retrieval team. They shall be fully prepared for a drop within a half an hour. And I shall keep you updated on events as they unfold."

"Thank you honorable Afua."

"My Lord."

And with that the window blinked out. Leaving the view of the hidden craft floating in the frozen abyss on screen. The ship looked small and insignificant before the massive battle ships of the Ivory Legion's. If the ship was to somehow be discovered by Chief General Thindweh and his forces, Despite the ships superior technology, it would be no match for the might of the Queen's Royal Fleet.

He turned from the monitor and began to stroll back through the shadows from whence he'd came. Their was much to do. Yes. So very much to do…

"_Will the dynamic duo defeat the dastardly doings of the demonic villains? Will Batman and Robin succumb to the subversive schemes of the super scientific minds of the sadists of evil? Holy Donkey Balls batman I just don't know! Stay tuned Bat Friends for the next exiting Chapter to unfold! Thanks for reading and stay tuned for Chapter 5!"_


	5. Chapter 5 The Little Wolf

Chapter 5

"The Little Wolf"

"…_Imagine you the antelope, and I'm the king of the jungle.__  
__Animal instinct, phenomenal stamina…"_

_-Hieroglyphics; Full Circle; "The Powers That Be."_

She tripped over something and almost fell flat on her face. She cursed loudly. Her voice echoing off the metal walls, and out into the shadows. The hallway of the flagship was dark, unfamiliar, and seemingly endless. The walls reached up into a yawning lightless abyss. None of this really bothered her of course. She'd grown quite accustomed to the dimly lit atmosphere of Yautja craft.

Still she wished she'd brought her helmet down from the bridge. But the "macho" men had been watching. And she did not want to make a show of her limited senses. There was a time when she could never have imagined herself being so assertive. Then again, there was a time when she could never have imagined herself living in the company of the Yautja.

Up ahead in the distance she spotted the end of the great hallway. In a few moments she'd reached the end and was standing there trying to remember if Chief General Thindweh had told her to go right or left.

"Right I think. He said right, right?"

It would be just like a Yautja male in his lofty position to give the little human intruder in his "great big" ship the wrong directions. Have himself a laugh at her expense. Having her wondering around, lost for days before sending someone to go fetch her.

His face had registered shock when he had first seen her on the view screen. Communicating from the bridge of the Dassanech's Man'daka. Never before had she beheld such a Yautja. He wore a beautiful suit of full body ivory armor. The exact same color as his massive ship.

It was truly exquisite. So this is what the mighty Yautja Military looked like. "I wonder how much damage that armor could take?" Was her first thought. "His helmet must look bad ass."

"Little Wolf." The Chief General had said before she could make any attempt at an introduction. She'd smiled inwardly. Her reputation apparently preceded her. The legendary Queen of the Yautja had given her that name. Though of course she'd never met Amara herself.

Her decree had come after the battle with the Abanyai, the rebel Yautja tribe who'd actually accomplished the relative domestication of Xenomorphs. This was regarded as an abomination (So she'd been told) amongst the Yautja. After their bloody victory the Queen had given her decree. To the Empire she would be known as the "Little Wolf", and was to be recognized as a friend and ally to the Yautja Empire.

If it had been just another title given by the males she wouldn't have blinked twice at the name. But this decree had come from on high. The legendary Queen she'd only heard passing tales of. This was a true honor. And Machiko Noguchi, the only human being in the history of her species to receive such an honor could not have been more proud.

The title came with a lot of perks. One was that all the tribesmen she'd encountered since then had paid her a great deal (albeit grudgingly) more respect. Even the few clan elders she'd met since then had called her by name instead of "Ooman, or Pyode Amedha".

Little Wolf. She was the Little Wolf now. And her name had granted her a pass of sorts amongst the tribes. Before the Queen's royal decree she had still been looked at among many Yautja not as potential prey, but as one to be challenged.

She had had her fair share of battles with testosterone filled Hunters. Many times she'd come out on top. A few times on the painful, broken and bruised bottom. But not anymore. No hunter she'd encountered since the Queen's decree had even hinted at challenging her. And apparently her reputation gained her credit amongst the higher up's on the male Yautja hierarchy as well.

Their exchange had been brief. Chief Commander Thindweh was apparently one to be quick and to the point. Even when the most unexpected people showed up on his doorstep. She wanted to come on board. He wanted to know why.

"I have pertinent information concerning the Kha'bj-te Amedha." She'd lied. Hoping that the Chief General would not see through her poker face.

For a moment Thindweh had just stared at her in silence. His expression unreadable. And she'd thought she been busted. Maybe it was because the Chief General had not seen many humans and was not good at reading them. Or maybe it was because of her title. But after a tense silent moment of scrutiny, the Chief General of the Ivory Legion gave a courteous bow.

"Little Wolf. Honorable friend and ally to the Empire and to the Mighty Queen Amara, you are welcome aboard my ship to aid us in this dangerous hunt. But know this. I cannot guarantee your safety beyond the borders of my fleet."

Machiko returned the bow. "I am honored to be a guest on your ship and accept any harm that may befall me in my participation in your hunt Chief General Thindweh of the Ivory Legion."

"Then I will see you on the command bridge of my flag ship shortly." He said. Bowing once more. Then the communications window abruptly winked out. The Chief General not being one for unnecessary dialogue.

From her Dassanech tribesmen she'd been told of this… "Chief Bio-Vizier" That was on board the monolithic ivory flagship. Some sort of representative of the Queen herself. And she very much wanted to meet him.

"He is a scientist." Danyale one of the elder's of the Dassanech had told her aboard their Man'daka. "He and his followers are not to be trusted."

But Machiko knew she had to meet him. Learn more about this "Laughing Meat". The rest of the Yautja seemed to possess only minimal superstitious knowledge of the legendary "Flesh Plague". But Danyale one of the Clan elders of the Dassanech had said the Bio-Vizier possessed vast knowledge of the Laughing Meat and many other forbidden things. He was in short, bad juju.

Machiko was not superstitious. She did not believe in ghosts, or Gods. Monsters she believed in. She'd killed monsters with her own hands. But monsters were just flesh and blood. Or so she had thought until the twenty ninth day of the Dassanech's containment effort of the Hesiod's frozen moons.

That day it had reached into the minds of the Yautja on board the Dassanech's Man'daka. Reached into her mind as well. And for a rare moment she had once again felt mortal fear creep into her bones. In that mental onslaught she had caught a glimpse into the mind of this Laughing Meat. And she had seen things… Terrible things…

That day had been one she would never forget. Many of the Un-Blooded had gone mad. Attacking each other and the remaining (Machiko barely among them) sane crew. The mad Yautja were a savage foe. Whipped up into such a mad frenzy that they did not even use weapons. Just their hands, and claws, and teeth.

They had been foaming at the mouth. Their eyes having undergone an impossible transformation. Turning a solid ebony. Howling and gnashing. They ripped chunks out of one another and the remaining sane crew with their hands and mouths.

Most of this, Machiko had watched from the floor of the hallway in front of the Command Deck. Her mind by virtue of DNA was not equipped to handle the onslaught of The Thing's mental attack like the remaining sane Yautja warriors.

The Thing was speaking in some disturbing and unfamiliar dialect she would later only be able to describe to herself as a "Black Language". It echoed through her mind. Pounding out a drumbeat of pain. Her eardrum's had felt as if they were going to explode at any second.

She'd spent the first five minutes of the siege of the Dassanech's Man'daka rolling around on the floor clutching her head. Hell it seemed had opened up in her brain. Booming black words coming up from the depths of damnation to blast through her mind. Later she would reflect, and come to the humbling realization that she had literally teetered on the brink. Barely holding onto her sanity. In what seemed like the last possible second before her mind utterly broke, The Thing they called the Flesh Plague had seemingly run out of steam. And it's Black Language faded out into the Ethereal.

Later Danyale had explained that it was because the Laughing Meat was both a fourth and fifth dimensional creature. In it's "infancy" it was strictly fourth dimensional. But as the Flesh Plague grew in strength it could start reaching out into the fifth.

She'd almost scoffed. The fifth dimension! There were no higher dimensional beings! None that she'd ever heard of. Superstitious nonsense, she'd wanted to say. But she had been shaken to the core. That was undeniable.

And if the legends of the Laughing Meat were true. Than The Thing gained the knowledge of anything it consumed. And an Un-Blooded Yautja by the name of Abewya had gone missing during the siege on the Man'Daka. He had taken a drop ship to the surface of Borea where his signal had been lost. Only the worst could be assumed. If it had consumed him then it now possessed knowledge of both the Yautja, and the Human Race. Now she needed to know more. And she would.

She had been utterly astonished at the sight of the Ivory Legion when they had first dropped out of hyperspace mere seconds before the Dassanech would have lost their battle to maintain the quarantine of the Hesiod. Their ships looked like massive, floating ivory cities. She didn't even recognize most of the weaponry that she could spot on the ship's exteriors. Massive cannons that looked like they could blow a hole through existence dotted the exteriors of the fleet.

For the Tribes, the Hunt offered the possibility of failure. Using select weapons to put them on even footing with their prey. The Yautja military seemed to adhere to no such doctrine. Uncontested victory was the name for the game with these guys.

And a moment later they had demonstrated this doctrine by utterly exterminating the escaping fleet of Hesiod and Laughing Flesh. Making the task look effortless. Next came the massive ice moons. And soon the moons and whatever else was crawling around on them were gone.

Finally she decided that Thindweh had told her to take a right. Her footsteps took on a more ominous echo as she moved down the hallway. Telling her that the ceiling above was much higher than the one she'd just been under. These solitary journeys along dimly lit Yautja craft had always inspired introspective moments in her. And at that moment she did just that. Reflecting on how a few years ago she had hunted the Hesiod alongside the Dassanech.

The frozen moons of Teade had been a treacherous and unforgiving environment. On the warmer hemispheres the elements were on average as deadly as the coldest night in the Antarctic on Earth. Snow fell from the sky in endless sheets. And the winds howled ceaselessly. Giving way occasionally to ghostly icy moans. The average temperature was enough to kill an unprotected man in under sixty seconds.

Not the typical hunting ground for a Yautja Tribe. But Danyale possessed a fanatical devotion to the Holy Ritual of the Hunt. And to truly follow the divine doctrine of the ritual a true Hunter must constantly challenge their capabilities. To hunt only in physically hospitable environments was to dishonor one's divine heritage.

This fanatical doctrine was shared by all of the Dassanech Tribe. And the Little Wolf deeply respected their devout beliefs. Over the years she had come to look at the ritual of "The Hunt" in a light she had never before thought possible.

She had quickly learned her ignorance of the Yautja's traditions. Thinking in the beginning that they only hunted Humans and the Xenomorphs. The Galaxy was rich with worthy prey if one knew where to find it. And the death dealt in the hunt was "not" murder. It was the sacred cycle of life. And it was meant to be revered.

She had even hunted… Humans. Oh yes. In the past she had crossed that line more than once. But it was not murder. It was honor. Honoring life. That was how she had come to fully realize the divinity of the Hunt. When she had taken the lives of her own species. The Yautja on occasion did the same. Brutal hunting grounds were designated for such events. No quarter was asked. And none given.

The Khande Amedha and Pyode Amedha were of course two of the most sacred Hunts a Yautja could embark on. She still wasn't quite sure why. There were many beings out there in the endless abyss far more deadly than humans. And even a few under certain circumstances that could be more dangerous than the Xenomorphs. Though that explosive acid blood put them pretty high up there on the "deadly meter". That shit was a motherfucker.

She could still remember vividly those freezing nights on the moons of Teade hunting the Hesiod. They were a deadly foe. To begin with they were literally giants. Standing between fifteen and twenty feet tall. Their strength was immense to say the least. She had actually seen one of them hurl a gigantic frozen boulder high up through the nighted sky and knock one of their landing craft out of the air.

The standard Yautja camouflage was next to useless against them. The Hesiod's sight being mostly heat based much like the Yautja's. And it could be said that they had the reverse effect on their hunter's. Despite their giant size they were virtually invisible to the Yautja's natural eyesight. Their bodies being covered from head to toe with an unbelievably thick white fur coat that kept their body heat in. Letting very little out.

"The Frozen Ghosts" the Dassanech had reverently called them. And the hunting of them had come with some very specific requirements and traditions. There were many more weapons employed in the Hunt then there were with other species like the Khande or Pyode Amedha.

Standard shoulder cannons were employed but complemented by plasma rifles that could switch between single, and rapid fire. Net guns were slung, being of no use against prey of such large proportions. Chakram's were highly recommended. The discs razor sharp edge complemented by the laser edging upgrade.

And all of the various targeting systems were considered fair game. Their was the "natural" aim and throw technique of course. And the homing system approach that was incorporated into their helmets. And then their was the mental control technique. Though of course there were very few who could take advantage of this option. The technique required a vast wealth of mental discipline. Not to mention years of practice. But in the hands of a master. The Chakram was one of the deadliest weapons in existence.

It was considered a great honor if a Yautja dared to engage a Hesiod in hand to hand combat. During those frozen nights she had seen more than one Hunter try. Nearly all were swatted aside like flies. When all was said and done the naturally resilient bodies of many Yautja lay crumpled and broken in the freezing snow like so many China Dolls.

Her first encounter with a Hesiod had been a humbling experience she would never forget. She had been stalking the hilly grounds outside one of their monolithic citadels alongside several of her tribesmen. The frozen fortress inspired instant awe in Machiko. The looming mighty structure whose spires disappeared into the dizzying heights of the dark swirling sky high above, left her momentarily breathless. From the ground it's height could only be guessed.

Machiko had found it hard to believe that any living creature would willingly be outdoors on a night like this. But Birwa and Dschamba two of her tribesmen she'd been hunting with had assured her that this was a mild night on this side of the moon. But with the howling winds and merciless pounding of the snow, the Little Wolf had found that hard to believe.

An hour passed with nothing but cold and darkness. Then another. Even with her body mesh cranked up to the max, she was still freezing her ass off. But then just around what would have been considered midnight on the frozen moons of Teade a giant came lumbering over a hill. It's massive towering frame seeming to materialize out of the swirling icy chaos.

It had taken a moment for Machiko to realize that her companions had not yet spotted the giant. Their natural eyesight to blame. But the giant had spotted them. And it knew them. That much was evident.

Machiko had half expected it to come charging at them bellowing with rage. Some massive tree sized club raised high over it's head to crush life and limb. Just like in "Clash of the Titan's" and "Jack and the Beanstalk" and all those other movies she'd seen as a kid.

But instead it raised a tree sized firearm and began to spray icy death. The thunder of the weapon momentarily drowning out the howling wind, raised her fellow tribesmen's attention before she could have possibly hoped to.

Despite the distance the first two shots found their mark. Machiko watched in disbelief as a perfectly symmetrical icicle about eight inches in circumference and a foot and a half in length blasted through the armor plating of a Hunter's chest. The force of the projectile sent the Hunter flying through the air like a ragdoll.

But the end of the icicle tapered off into a razor sharp point, and in midflight the projectile pushed through the Yautja and continued it's journey into the night. The Yautja crashed to the ground. Kicking up a mini whirlwind of snow as the dead body rolled to a halt. A gaping wound the size of a basketball pouring out green phosphorescent lifeblood.

The second round found Dshamba's face, and ripped his head clean from his shoulders. Her tribesmen's head went sailing off into the swirling darkness. The Giant's weapon continued to thunder out death as the remaining Yautja (and Machiko) uncharacteristically ran for cover.

"A titan with a giant ice gun." She had thought, as she leapt behind a large stone outcropping. "Why not?" A half second later one of the Hesiod's ice missiles struck the other side of her rocky cover. Exploding with such force that the top of the stone shattered and the foundation beneath the snow rocked violently.

The thunder of the Ice Ghost's weapon competed with the howling wind for dominance. And Machiko who had long ago adopted the unconscious habit of counting her enemy's shots was unsure of how many she'd heard.

The last three hit the other side of her stone cover, and the outcropping suddenly dislodged and came tumbling out of it's resting place. Machiko barely had a second to roll out of the way. Narrowly avoiding being crushed to death. She rolled up into a firing position. Raising her plasma rifle. Fuck all to that hand to hand combat bullshit. But the giant was gone. Having disappeared into the swirling storm.

"Well that can't be good." She'd thought as the remaining Hunting Party regained their composure and began to fan out. There were six of them now. Birwa, Duaish, Torumbu, Tordjem, Akwamu, and herself.

They moved into flanking positions. Closing in on the snow covered hill the Frozen Ghost had first appeared behind. She reflected on the giant's gunfire. Fifteen in all. She was almost certain she'd counted fifteen shots before the Hesiod had ceased fire. Was that the maximum his clip could hold?

The next sight they encountered was equally baffling to her. They found the giant crouched down on the other side of the hill. Stuffing snow into what looked like the empty magazine of it's gun.

"What the fu-?" Was all Machiko managed to get out before the Hesiod's head snapped up. It's large purplish glowing eye settling on them. It slammed its weapon's clip into place, giving a deafening roar as it did. A strange whining sound emitted from the giant's weapon. And for a few seconds the clip had glowed a brilliant orange.

Whatever it was doing Machiko didn't wait for it to finish. She fired her plasma rifle. Her fellow Hunter's quickly following suit. The pounding snow and howling wind had an adverse effect on their weapon's fire however. The elements were a problem she'd never considered. But upon seeing it, the dilemma instantly made sense.

Her first shots went wild. Missing the giant by a mile. Her companions however were obviously aware of (and of course had neglected to mention to her) the dilemma the elements provided, and made their shots on a wide arch. The wind carried them on a much more accurate trajectory. But the Giant was surprisingly fast, and combat rolled out of the way. Becoming momentarily invisible, kicking up as much snow as he did.

They all continued to fire into the haze of snow. Bolts of brilliant blue and gold zipping across the dark landscape. Finally they heard a cry of pain. But with it came return fire. A hail of perfectly shaped icicles came flying wildly in their direction. The shooter clearly not as composed as he'd been in his first volley.

Duaish took one in the upper thigh, and another in the shoulder. His body spun around like a mini tornado as he flew through the darkness. By the time his remains hit the ground he was an unrecognizable pile of meat. The rest of the shots went wild. Machiko heard a couple of them shatter somewhere out in the darkness.

The shots stopped abruptly. This time Machiko was sure she had only heard eight that time. "Maybe he hadn't had enough time to pack his magazine with enough snow." The odd thought entered her mind.

The snow the Hesiod had kicked up during his combat roll was beginning to settle, and the reason for the Ice Ghost's erratic shots became readily evident. The giant had taken more than a few hits from their plasma rifles. One arm was missing at the elbow. And one of it's huge muscular thigh's smoldered with two large cauterized wounds. Even from that distance Machiko could smell the burning fur through her helmet…

...Elsewhere on the massive flagship someone else was reflecting on the Hesiod as he went about his preparations for the capture of the Laughing Meat. Chief Bio-Vizier Bak'Khan was staring intently at a giant view screen of the rotating blue planet. A half a dozen Ivory Legion Drop Ships were just now disembarking from the flagship.

Despite the pressure of his secret mission. The Hesiod had entered his mind once again. The race had been all too familiar to the Bio-Vizier. They had been a fascinating species. Devoid almost wholly of the natural resources that most sentient races possessed by virtue of planetary birthright.

The Hesiod had nonetheless risen from their frozen primordial soup and constructed an empire of impressive proportions. They were "Ice Smiths" that was the title he and his tribe the Niadrubu had literally given them. The only known race to be deserving of such a name.

They had literally mastered the frozen arts. Their monolithic citadels that rose miles into the roiling clouds of the perpetually dark overcast sky, were comprised almost wholly of ice, save for the wiring and equipment necessary to power their fortresses.

Even their very weapons were ice based. Mastering the frozen arts had allowed them the ability to construct sophisticated firearms that spat frozen death of a devastating nature. Their ammunition was their environment. The magazine's of their weapons were super-heated. All the Hesiod had to do was shove a handful of ice or snow into the empty magazines, and in a matter of seconds the frozen ingredients were melted, and then reformed into deadly sharp icy projectiles.

Packed correctly the average magazine could create and hold roughly seventeen rounds of perfectly formed stalactite sized icicles. Which had no ballistic capability , but were by virtue of the Hesiod's and their weapons gigantic size deadly in their own massive way.

He regretted now more than ever that he had not obtained a few specimens of the Ice Giants. The species was truly lost to existence. Had there been a God out there that had wept for them? He wondered.

Somewhere out there in the endless frozen abyss had there been a God who had wept, and it's tears turned to gigantic frozen moons? Perhaps someday they would drift toward a sun and the Hesiod would be born again.

After all, it was not the Mala'Kak who had engineered them. The engineers only created weapons. Like the Khande and Pyode Amedha. The Hesiod, like the Yautja had come about from natural processes. And that was something that science could quantify on the most basic principles. The smallest of the building blocks of life could be identified.

But how they came together. How life inspired itself into being was still only a theory in it the finest scientific minds in the known galaxy. There was God's work in there. Bak'Khan was sure of it. He knew it in his soul.

There came a sudden pounding on the recently added massive reinforced door that led out of his laboratory into the bowels of the Ivory Legion Flagship. Perturbed, he started toward the door. Who would be knocking on his laboratory door during these crucial moments before the initial "cleansing" attempt by the Ivory Legion?

Certainly not any of his disciples. There were a few on the ship. Ivory Legion Warriors who had secretly sworn allegiance to the Chief Bio-Vizier's cause. But they would not be coming by at this stage in the mission. Bak'Khan knew without seeing them that they were all bent to crucial tasks individually assigned to all of his secret disciples on board.

Thindweh then? Come one more time in this crucial moment to cast his suspicious gaze around his Laboratory? He quickly dashed the thought. Thindweh was perceptive enough to not trust Bak'Khan, but he was far too dull witted to have uncovered any part of his secret plan. That he was sure of. Who then?

Just as the Bio-Vizier reached the door he was greeted with another round of pounding from the other side. Grunting in frustration, he let his fingers glide over the lock controls, and the complicated mechanism whirred and clicked loudly as an intricate series of cogs and steel plates unbound themselves in flawless symmetry. This was a door that was very tough, and would take days to open if locked, even with the Ivory Legion's formidable and powerful equipment.

The locks and plates finished their intricate pattern and Bak'Khan grumbled as it swung open on automated hinges. Nothing could have prepared him (Accept for a camera placed outside the door of course.) For the sight that awaited him on the other side.

It was a human! A female human was standing outside his laboratory in the bowels of the Ivory Legion Flagship! And for a very rare moment in Bak'Khan's long, long life, he found himself speechless.

Machiko could not help but be impressed by the Chief Bio-Vizier's imposing figure as he stood in the doorway. She was certain the moment she'd laid eyes on him that that was who this Yautja was. He was the tallest Yautja she'd ever seen. Lean and muscular like the rest of his brethren. But that is where the similarities seemingly began and ended.

Bak'Khan wore a long black hooded cloak, the hood pulled back. It hung long, touching the floor. he wore his massive dreadlocks in a top knot. He carried no weapons save for what appeared to be an ornamental knife of exquisite beauty hanging from his belt.

Bak'khan was still at a loss for words. Completely aware that he had lost his well practiced and always employed air of confidence in a split second. A half second later the Bio-Vizier was even further confounded when the human bowed and addressed him in his native tongue.

"Greetings honorable Bak'Khan. Chief Bio-Vizier of Queen Amara." The little female human said. She spoke his language with little difficulty, and it was readily apparent that she was well practiced. "I am –."

"The Little Wolf." The Chief Bio-Vizier finished, as his mind put it all together. The legendary human that Queen Amara had declared was an ally to the empire. He looked down on her with newfound interest. She really did look very frail. Bak'Khan estimated that he could kill her easily. Smashing her tiny bones like dry twigs.

But what was she doing here? Now of all times, during the most crucial moments of his mission. Could she be acting as a spy for Queen Amara? Doubtful. Bakh Khan was the Chief Bio-Vizier of the Empire. The most trusted and honored male in the Queen's council.

"I- I was aboard the Dassanech's Mand'daka during their quarantine effort of the Moons of Teide." The Little Wolf said. Already confirming the Chief Bio-Vizier's rapidly forming suspicions. "I come… To offer my aid in your hunt of the Laughing Meat. And… To seek your advice."

Machiko thought about the irony of that. The fact that the hunting tribe she'd been with had been the first to detect the presence of the Laughing Meat. Like some lazy writing in a mediocre book. Some poorly planned and hastily made addition to a story by some half assed writer like Terry Goodkind or Dean Koonz.

But then again the Yautja were a space faring race. A space faring race of testosterone fueled alien hunters. So interesting things regardless of how improbable always seemed to happen. Wasn't that why she had spent so much time amongst the Yautja all these years?

"You're mind has been touched by something dark." Bak'Khan said. His face betraying something. What was it? Empathy? This was unquestionably the strangest Yautja Machiko Noguchi had ever met.

Bak'Khan looked down at the little human with newfound regard. This "Little Wolf" as she was called, had glimpsed into the mind of the Laughing Flesh! His brethren aboard the Dassanech's Man'daka were far to superstitious and dull witted to be of any use in giving him any insight into the mind of the Flesh Plague.

But this little human. He estimated she could offer much more. There would be language barriers to overcome of course, but with his superior intellect this should prove to be no more than a minor obstacle. And she may be able to prove herself useful in other ways…

"I do believe Little Wolf, that you and I can benefit from one another's company." He said in his most diplomatic tone. He waved an arm in a wide arch out into his shadowy laboratory, in a gesture of invitation. "Please come in."

The Chief Bio-Vizier abruptly turned and strode with confidence into his laboratory. The Little Wolf began to follow, but hesitated for a brief moment at the door. Machiko suddenly feeling less confident than she'd felt in years.

"Get ahold of youself." She commanded.

And with that she took a deep breath. And stepped through the threshold of the Lion's Den.

… The ebony craft orbiting the planet between the Monolithic ships of the Ivory Legion, and the spinning blue planet was alive with activity. Everywhere the disciples of the Chief Bio-Vizier were hard at work making last minute preparations for their descent to the planet's surface.

Strange weapons were locked and loaded. Full body suits of ebony bio-mechanical power armor were being adorned. Afua was standing on the command deck staring at the planet intently. _This_ time they would succeed. The Kha'bj-te Amedha would be their's. Oh yes.

He turned his gaze from the planet to the overhead glass ceiling. The gigantic ships of the Ivory legion loomed overhead like flawless castles of floating ivory. Killing machines. That would destroy them in an instant if they were alerted to their presence. He turned his eyes once more toward the blue planet below.

They must work with perfect precision. Nothing could be left to chance with the Laughing Meat. It was after all capable of being a microscopic enemy. Indeed there seemed no limit to it's physical capabilities. It's motives were utterly alien. And an unknown enemy was the most dangerous enemy. Such a Thing must either be mastered or destroyed.

Afua wondered again what interest such a Thing could have in plants. He had seen an infected tree during their long hunt of this illusive being. It had been a disturbing sight. Seeing the trunk suddenly rip itself apart. Sap and half formed blood geysering out in a torrent of half plant, half animal gore, as the creature attempted to form into something that could move faster than a tree.

Tentacles of the most peculiar nature had sprung out. Bark Quivering like flesh… His thoughts turned once again to the blasphemous Book of Eibon. The maddening cursed tome that haunted him to this day. It had spoke of the horror of bark that quivered like flesh. Spoke of that and a great many other unholy things. Things that possessed sight beyond sight. And listened. Even now...

"All is ready Lord Afua." Alomwe's voice came from behind him, drawing him out of his disturbing reflections.

"Thank you Bio-Vizier Alomwe." Afua said without turning his gaze from the view screen. "Send in the probe."

"At once my Lord."

Afua listened to the heavy footfalls of his fellow warrior scientist as he departed the room. The heavy reinforced doors opened with a near imperceptible "woosh" of air. And then slid closed again just as quietly.

A moment later in the airless abyss outside the cloaked craft, a small metal sliding door opened, and a small probe of the same ebony as it's mother launched out of it's home with lightening speed. Diving down toward the planet at a blinding velocity.

About a quarter mile away one of the Ivory Legion's drop ships was also making it's way (albeit at a much slower speed) toward the planet. Njawai the second in command of the battalion on the drop ship was gazing out one of the view ports on the command deck when he thought for a second that he caught sight of the sun glinting off an object as black as the abyss, moving at lightening speed toward the planet.

In the next second it was gone. It might have just been his eyes and nerves just playing tricks on him, but nevertheless he strode over to the monitors and gazed at them intently. Nothing. Whatever it was. If it had had been really anything to begin with, was gone now. A piece of asteroid maybe. Anyway it seemed to be on a trajectory far from their own.

The bustle of activity all about him brought his gaze from the window back to the situation at hand. And he strode off to make his final rounds. Still as his mind began to set itself to other tasks, the strange sight remained in the back of his mind…

Twenty seconds after the ebony back probe's launch it was entering the Exosphere. Flames began to lick the sleek exterior. The planet angry at this intrusion. But unable to stop it. The probe hit the Mesosphere and the heat really turned up. Flames went from licking, to leaping across the smooth metallic surface.

Had any Ivory Legion drop ships been anywhere above the probe. One might easily have spotted the flaming object. But the trajectory the Niadrubu had planned out was far from the sight of any of the descending craft. It's destination known only to Bak'Khan and his Tribe. Far from the patch of land the Ivory Legion was to begin it's containment effort. The Niadrubu had found a much more suitable place to engage and capture the Kha'bj-te Amedha. Far from the prying eyes (at least temporarily) to their ignorant military brethren.

The probe exited the Stratosphere and the flames ceased. Far below but rapidly approaching were brilliant white clouds that dominated the sky. Between subtle breaks in the cloudline there could be seen a range of snow capped mountains. Below them at their base stretched an uninterrupted valley that spread out for hundreds of miles. The eastern side ending at the borders of a vast ocean.

The probe punched through the cool fog of the cloud line. The ebony exterior rapidly cooling and leaving behind a thin trail of steam. The machine exited the cloud line and the valley floor came into crystal clear view. Tall grass swaying in a gentle Autumn breeze. Air breaks suddenly sprang out all around the probe. The impossibly tough metal fighting against the indomitable pull of gravity. The probe's descent was slowed, but not by much. But not much was needed.

A moment later it smashed into ground, and the valley shook, as chunks of dirt, and stone, and grass flew high into the sky like a geyser. The sound of the impact was thunderous. Echoing across the valley, and bouncing off the gray unforgiving mountains. Wildlife fled at the sound. Birds took to the air. And primitive quadruped herbivores and carnivores alike fled for their dens. The dramatic arrival of the probe was not something the Niadrubu had neglected to anticipate. But they were not worried about the sound of their arrival.

The wildlife was mostly harmless. And the Ooman's in their nearby flimsy fortress were of little concern. They were slow to act by virtue of nature. And it could be days before any arrived to investigate. By then the Niadrubu's mission would be long complete. As it so happened though, the sound of the probe's impact was in fact heard by a group of humans.

"Holy shit!" Were his first words. "Did you guys hear that?" Corporal Boomer said as he turned to his companions. They were six of them in all. Colonial Marines. The "Bad Asses of the Galaxy" they were fond of referring to themselves as.

"Just some boulders coming loose I'd imagine. Lieutenant Mitford said.

"My ass that was some fuckin' boulders." Was Boomer's response as he turned his gaze back in the direction of the sound. Only endless valley out there. Not even a plume of smoke to confirm his suspicions.

"Don't get yourself all exited Boomer." Arms Seargent Spoon said. "You're the only guy with the big bombs on this rock."

"I'm telling you that was an explosion." He insisted. "I know an explosion when I hear one."

"My ass Boomer." Spoon said, as he adjusted his pulse rifle. "Your bomb crazy you know that? You should get some help mate."

"I bet you a hundred bucks we go down that valley and we find some kind of wreckage."

"I'll take that bet any day Boomer." Spoon retorted.

"Well you are the expert corporal." Sargent Mic said as he too surveyed the direction the sound had come from. Why don't we go take a look see?"

"Aww common Sarge. My feet are aching like an old man's." Came Spoon.

"Watch your tongue Spooney. I'm the old man here. And I can tell you it ain't a pleasant transition from youth. And right now I'm feelin' curious. Think you can keep up with your elders lad?"

Spoon harrumphed. "On my worst and your best day Sarge."

"Yoshi." Sargent Mic said, turning his gaze to the communications officer. "Get on the horn and tell home base were going to be taking a little field trip."

"Sir." Yoshi said and began to fumble with his radio.

"Well Spooney are you still willing to take that bet?"

"Fuckin' aye right I am!"

"Alright then ladies. Let's go have a look see. Check your gear. Hawkins holster that pea shooter and get out your rifle. And Blaine, you bust out the big boy. Safety's on. Spooney your on point. Mitford rear guard."

And with that the squad of Marines sprang into action. Second Lieutenant Blaine strapped his flame thrower around his shoulder and snapped on his Smart Gun. He tested the weight and movement of it for moment. Pivoting on his feet, raising and lowering the weapon on it's mechanical hinges that allowed the soldier to move the massive weapon with ease. A few minutes later they were on the move…

"_Thanks for reading. To everyone who's gotten this far in my story I'm flattered. Sorry for the delay in the release of this Chapter but I have taken on a screenplay writing project that has admittedly taken away from the progress of this story. I promise the next chapter won't take so long to get posted. Thanks again to everyone who has taken the time to read this."_


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